Kaumaha
by PiWithApple
Summary: "You let them shoot me up with God knows what, watched them beat the crap out of me and you did nothing-"


"Danny! Danny, stay with me. Please, babe just stay with me!" Steve pleaded, trying to swing himself into an angle at which he could see his partner's face properly despite the agony ripping through his shoulders.

After what felt like hours of alternating between screaming, talking and begging, Steve heard Danny grunt and mumble incoherently.

"What was that, babe?" Steve coaxed.

"M'kin m' h'ache wurs," Danny slurred.

Steve felt the tension bleed out of him and he huffed a laugh, grateful Danny was well enough to manage humor.

"You ok…. there, Danno?" speaking was becoming difficult as gravity forced his chest into an uncomfortable position, giving his lungs little room for expansion.

"What d'you think, Steven?"

"Well, you sound better."

"Better, not good. Your fault," Danny answered, letting out a cry when he shifted and pain exploded absolutely _everywhere_.

"Danny!" Steve started swinging himself again, biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Stvstp," Danny grunted.

" Wha- Ah fuck!"

A sharp pain shot through Steve's shoulder and one arm suddenly felt slightly longer than the other.

"STOP. Before you… rip… arms off,"

"Right. Then don't scare me."

"Well… your fault."

Steve was worried at the amount of effort it seemed to take for Danny to speak. Danny had taken quite a few hits to the abdomen and a punctured lung probably wasn't far off.

_He_ was the Navy SEAL damnit he had to find a way out. There was absolutely no way he was going to tell Grace he had failed to keep her father safe. She would never forgive him and he would never forgive himself.

"Hello? Super SEAL?" Danny's tone was light but the slight quiver gave away exhaustion and fear.

"Still here, Danno," Steve tried to force his hand through the cuffs again, ignoring the blood trickling down his sliced wrists.

"Ok." Danny said tiredly.

"Ok? That's it? Wow."

"Was that 'wow' or 'ow'? Just had my head bashed in, not chatty."

"Wow."

"Is something the matter with you?"

"No, Danno, I'm answering your question."

"Oh. Well-"

The door to the room they were being held in swung open, "Ready for round two, Detective Williams?"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE," Steve bellowed, tugging hard against the chains he was suspended from.

"I told you, Commander, all I want to know is where Jamie Anderson is."

"And _I've_ told _you_, I DO NOT KNOW."

"See, I think you're lying," their captor answered.

Their benefactor was Carlos Gonzales and his girlfriend, unfortunately for both Steve and Danny, had entered witness protection without a second thought for their relationship. He'd decided he wanted her back. Steve pointed out hours ago that yes, he is Five-0 but _no_, that does not mean he knows where every single person in witness protection is.

He opened a small black box that held a syringe as a guard tied a piece of cloth around Danny's arm.

"Carlos, we can work something out, I can get you the information but you gotta let my partner go."

Danny was staring straight at him and even as he spoke Steve kept his eyes on Danny, letting him know he was there and that it would be okay, he would figure something out.

Gonzales pushed the plunger slightly, smiling at Steve as he expelled some of the liquid from the syringe, "As you wish, Commander."

"No, NO! Please, _please_ just leave Danny alone!"

Only Navy training kept tears from cascading down his cheeks as he writhed against the chains, wanting nothing more than to cause Carlos Gonzales and all his men a slow, painful death. The needle was forced into Danny's arm and he winced as the contents of the syringe entered his bloodstream. He hung his head, breathing heavily as he waited for the drug to take over.

"Non-lethal, but it packs a punch. I'm losing my patience, Commander."

Steve only barely registered the sound of the door shutting heavily as he watched Danny who hung his head, breathing labored.

"…Danno?" Steve croaked.

Suddenly Danny's head shot up, his eyes widened and he _screamed_.

He eventually passed out from the pain. Occasionally a tremor passed through his body as the drug made it's way out of his system. The effects of the drug left him sweating so profusely his shirt clung to his body and Steve added dehydration to the list he would rattle off to the EMTs because they were making it out of this very much alive.

The horror of the scene Steve was forced to witness left him shaking. Through it all, Steve tried to remind Danny he was there, shoved away the hurt when Danny screamed insults at him, inviting him to retell tales of his stupidity as Danny sobbed through the pain, pleading with him to fight, if not for anything else, for Grace.

As he came to, Danny found that his entire body ached. He tried to determine if he had done any further damage to his body but even the slightest movement was rewarded with a sharp pain so he focused on getting as much oxygen into his lungs as possible.

"…Steve?" Danny rasped.

He had kept his head down, but the lack of a response from his partner sent his mind reeling with fear. He forced his protesting neck muscles into submission as he peered through the darkness for any sign of what had happened to Steve.

"Steven… Don't be rude."

Steve jerked awake, hissing as his injuries made themselves known.

"Morning, Danno."

"Mmph."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"You ok?"

"I don't know."

"WHAT? But you can move right? Try wriggling your toes-"

"Steven, relax! I am intact. Still at the hands of a mad man, though. Hence, I do not know."

Carlos chose that exact moment to enter, laughing as he watched both men struggle to adjust to the sudden assault of light.

"Commander, I've had it with you. I want answers."

"We've been through this, Gonzales, I can help you find her, but you have to help me first."

"I tried to be nice, but you…," He had a strange glint in his eyes and Steve's blood froze when Carlos motioned to the guard for a gun, "You're forcing my hand, Commander."

Steve knew he had to buy time, "Give me a phone, I'll call the Governor and you'll get your information!"

"NO! Tell me, or Detective Williams dies."

By some miracle, or sheer stupidity, Gonzales only brought one guard with him. Even so, Steve knew he had one chance to get this right, and failure was definitely not an option.

"Well, Commander?" Carlos cocked the gun and pushed it against Danny's temple.

Danny's eyes were begging Steve to do something, _anything_.

"Steve… tell Grace-"

"No. You can tell her whatever you need to when we get out," Steve's voice was quiet but dangerous.

"Ah, good. Where is Jamie?"

"I _don't know_," Steve answered.

Danny watched the scene before him with a mixture of sheer awe and fear. Steve somehow ripped his hands out of the handcuffs and barreled into Carlos, throwing him and his guard back before either could react.

Steve almost glided through the air as he subdued the two and only just refrained from emptying a clip in Carlos's head. The last thing they needed was to attract attention. He checked both still forms for weapons and a phone, immediately dialing Chin's number when he found one.

As it turned out, Chin had already tracked them down and was minutes away with HPD. Steve was content to let them come to him instead of searching the area for more hostiles. He moved towards Danny, concerned that his partner wasn't ranting about the danger of his 'rescue' attempt.

"Danny, you ok…?" He asked tentatively.

"Am I okay? Fuck you, McGarrett. You could've slipped out of those cuffs ages ago and you chose the moment right before he tried to kill me?"

"Danny, I-"

"Save it. You let them shoot me up with God knows what, watched them beat the crap out of me and you did nothing-"

Steve was infinitely grateful when Chin burst through the door before Danny could say anything more, closely followed by paramedics.

In the haze of anger and pain, though, Danny failed to notice that Steve hadn't reached out to touch him or check him for injuries and was holding himself in a strange manner. Almost as though he _couldn't_ uncross his delicately folded arms.

Danny woke feeling more exhausted than he'd ever felt in his life and he quickly realized he was in a hospital bed. He turned his head slightly, expecting to find Steve folded uncomfortably into a chair beside him and frowned when he made out Kono's lithe form.

"Ko…no," he coughed out.

The rookie stirred immediately, almost falling out of the chair in her haste to get to his side.

"Hey, Danny. How're you feeling?" she asked as she reached over to press the call button and to get him a cup of water.

"Never better," he huffed, "Where's Steve?"

Kono hesitated and suddenly Danny remembered his choice of parting words for Steve.

"Kono, where's Steve?" he asked urgently.

"He needed to rest, he'll be by soon," Kono answered hastily.

The nurse chose that exact moment to walk in and began asking him a series of questions that he answered as quickly as possible, hoping to get back to the subject of quite possibly having driven his partner away.

Kono used the opportunity to slip out of his room, running up to the waiting room to look for Chin.

"He's awake and asking for Steve," she reported to a tired looking Chin.

"Really? After what Steve said…" Chin answered, running a hand through his hair.

"Danny couldn't have meant that!"

Chin shrugged in response.

"What do we do?" Kono asked, hopefully conveying that she did not want to be the one to have to explain exactly what had happened to Danny.

"I'll go sit with Danny, call me with any updates," Chin read his cousin all too well and while he didn't want to do this either, he decided to spare her the heart ache.

The door to his room creaked open slightly and Danny craned his neck to see who it was, "Steven, that better be you."

"Sorry, brah," Chin sat in the chair, cringing as his muscles protested.

"Chin, I'm turning into a broken recorder. Where the hell is Steven J McGarrett? He owes me one hell of an explanation as to why he left me to suffer when…" Danny trailed off as he took in Chin's pale, withdrawn face.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Steve… is in surgery."

"WHAT?"

"Danny! Calm down or the nurse will have my head."

Danny stared at him, "Surgery for _what_?"

"His hands," Chin answered, shifting slightly.

"Excuse me? His _hands_?" Danny asked incredulously.

"Just… listen, ok? Steve did some damage to his hands when he pulled them through the cuffs."

"Damage? What kind of damage?"

"In short, he shattered enough bones that he's going to require extensive reconstructive surgery and physical therapy."

Danny swallowed convulsively, "Function…?"

"They uh… they don't know."

Danny turned away from Chin and lay his head against the pillow, his form shaking slightly as sobs tore through him.

_What the fuck did I do?_

* * *

A/N: This is meant to be a one-shot. Hope you liked it, let me know what you thought in the comments :) The title, _kaumaha_ means sacrifice.

[Edit] Ok, you guys win. Not a one-shot anymore! I have 4 WIPs and three one shots in the works so bear with me :D


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